Can't Let You Go
by hipsandcars
Summary: Sequel to Can't Tell Me Nothing and Can't Make a Sound. Jacob and Edward are finally happy together, up until the point where Billy returns.
1. Chapter One: Stay Classy, Tacoma

**Author's Note:** So, I'm pretty sure that this is a lot different than the writing style of the first two, which is mostly due to me writing a lot of one-shots lately. I also quite prefer this style, as I looked back at some of the earlier chapters of the first stories and I just went "Eegh."  
**Word Count:** 1988.  
**Warnings: **AU, slash, fluff, one homosexual slur, a very long and boring chapter, I apologize. The next few are just filler so I can get my pattern done.

**Can't  
Volume 3: Can't Let You Go  
****Chapter One: Stay Classy, Tacoma**

_You can't love who you want to in times like these._

Edward had spent over a month planning for Shaelyn's first birthday party, which Jacob thinks is pretty insane, but Edward never asked him to help with anything other than getting some of the pack to come, so he never complained.

He had the whole trip to the zoo planned out, right down to the minute, although Shaelyn had taken over her Daddy J in the "fucking-up-schedules" department.

Not to mention the zoo had just put in a red wolves exhibit, and if Jacob really tried, he could probably convince Edward to spend at least an hour watching them.

Edward woke up Shaelyn bright and early while Jacob prepared a bottle of blood for her. The blood still totally grossed him out but he was willing to put up with it for the sake of his daughter.

Edward brought her downstairs from her nursery and set her in high chair. Jacob sat beside her and began to feed her from the bottle.

"Are you hungry today?" Edward asked, leaning on the kitchen counter.

Jacob looked back momentarily and shook his head. It amazed him how quickly they had lapsed into a happy, family domestic life. Jacob lived full time with the Cullen's, but had transferred back to the school in La Push.

They had settled into a comfortable routine, but Jacob remained adamant that if they ever had the argument about who's turn it was to take out the trash ( or something ), that he was going to shoot himself. Edward assured him that it was never going to happen, and that he was also pretty sure that Jacob shooting himself would do nothing, anyway.

They all piled into Edward's Vespa, Shaelyn securely tucked into her booster seat in the rear of the vehicle, Jacob and Edward still able to keep a close eye on her from up front.

"Do you think she'll have any idea what's going on once we get there?" Jacob asked as they were driving down the highway.

"She's a pretty bright girl," Edward replied, then added, "And she better."

Jacob snorted, then noted the speed at which Edward was driving.

"Uhm...so I'd say 85 miles an hour is probably a bad speed to be going?" Jacob stated, gesturing to the speedometer.

"Driving at normal speed, it would take us three hours to get to the zoo."

"And at this speed?"

"About an hour and a half."

Jacob glared at him until he slowed down to 80 for the rest of the way to the zoo.

- - -

"Two adults and one toddler," Edward said to the lady behind the counter at the ticket booth.

"Sure th—is she three? We don't allow any child under three inside the zoo," the lady said.

"She's very quiet," Edward replied, smiling at her. "I'm sure you could make an exception this one time?"

The girl turned quite flustered at this, and nodded, "Your total is thirty-three dollars."

"Thanks," Edward smiled again at her, handing her the money and taking the tickets from her.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the ticket booth woman, Jacob leaned closer to Edward and mumbled, "Flirt a little more, Cullen. Maybe she'll suck your--"

"_Shaelyn_," Edward reminded him before he could finish his sentence. "Why, Jacob, are you jealous? I had no idea of your feelings towards me."

"Bro, I'm currently holding your child. It'd be a little messed up if I _didn't_ have any feelings towards you," Jacob retorted psuedo-seriously, but the grin on his face gave him away.

Edward chuckled and steered them towards the Kid Zone, the first exhibition area of the zoo.

Jacob was alright with the meerkats, and the mole rats. The tortoises and frogs were okay, but a little boring, the boa scared the crap out of him, and he fell in love with the lemurs ("Hey look, Shae, it's Zaboomafoo!")

But he vehemently refused to go anywhere _near_ the bugs, but Shaelyn was delighted with them, so Jacob had to go. There was no way in hell he was missing one second of his baby smiling.

She had a particular penchant for the Goliath bird-eating spider, which was, bar none, the biggest freaking arachnid Jacob had ever been forced to lay eyes on.

"That thing eats _birds_?" he rasped out, but definitely not because he was terrified of them, and his hands were definitely not shaking in his pockets. He was thankful that Edward had taken Shaelyn, lest he had dropped her or something else tragic.

"Well, since it's called the bird-eating spider, I'd say it's safe to assume that it eats bids," Edward remarked, smirking. "Do you want to touch it?"

Jacob gave Edward his Are You Clinically Insane? look, mixed with a tinge of I Swear to God, I Will Kill You, I Don't Care If You're My Baby's Father.

Edward laughed, and Jacob didn't even hit him for it, he was so thankful to get the hell out of Spider Central and into the aquarium.

The first tank they saw was the sharks, which, okay, Jacob had not been expecting at all. He figured the aquarium would have the usual: tropical fish in 1890 different colours, seahorses, maybe even a large fish or two. He didn't think the first thing he'd see was a 300 pound sandtiger shark. Not that he was complaining or anything, because sharks were mega-cool, it was just _holy crap_, don't kids get scared by this?

Apparently Shaelyn didn't. Edward was crouched behind her, holding onto her sides as she put one hand on the glass of the aquarium. One of the sandtigers came over and snapped near the glass. Jacob jumped, Edward jumped, and Shaelyn giggled.

Leave it to their one year old daughter to make them feel like wimps.

After the aquariums (it took ten minutes to get Edward away from the oddly-fascinating Pacific octopus), they went to the Asian forest sanctuary, where Jacob decided that Sumatran tigers were the cutest things ever, yes, even cuter than Zaboomafoo. There were these two tigers, and one was stretched across a rock, napping, when a tiny little cub pranced over and just _pounced_ on the napping tiger.

It was at that point that Jacob declared he wanted one.

"Our house is big, Jacob, but it's not that big, and I don't really think Forks has the climate required to keep a tiger alive," Edward said, patting Jacob on the back. "Sorry."

Jacob shrugged and they moved on to the Asian otters.

Afterwards, they stopped at the Asia Picnic Area to feed Shaelyn, who had become quite cranky and hungry during their tour.

Edward was supervising her as she drank from her sippy cup, when a guy walked buy and muttered, "Faggots."

"...'scuse me?" Jacob said to the guy.

"I said, _faggots_," the guy snarled. "You people shouldn't be allowed in public."

Edward anticipated Jacob's next move and hauled Jacob back just as he lunged towards the guy.

The guy sneered at Edward, even though he had just saved him from serious injury, and quite possibly death.

Just as he was about to leave, Shaelyn "accidentally" spat blood out at him, the red liquid soaking the back of his t-shirt. They would've believed it was really an accident, had she not had to turn ninety degrees to her left to reach him. Shaelyn giggled and Jacob and Edward bit back their laughter as the guy turned to them, outraged.

"You should teach your goddamn kid some manners!" the guy spat.

"Why? She's the kid of two _faggots_," Jacob replied, repeating the guys earlier words, "she doesn't know any better."

The guy looked like he was about to say something, but he apparently thought better of it and left.

"Told you she was a bright girl," Edward grinned.

- - -

After the lunch debacle, Edward and Jacob figured it was time for more cute animals to take their mind off of it.

To the Rocky Shores, then.

Shaelyn seemed even more delighted by the beluga than by the sandtiger shark, giggling every time it swam in her line of vision. The sea otters were just as cute, if not cuter than the Asian otters, and Jacob had a brief debate with Edward over it before they moved on to the Arctic Tundra.

They bypassed the polar bears in favour of the Arctic Fox.

"So, has your whole species-bonding need been satisfied for the day?" Edward asked after ten minutes of Jacob holding Shaelyn in front of their exhibit.

"Foxes are not the same thing as wolves," Jacob sniffed. "This is just to tide me over until we actually see them."

Edward chuckled. Give Jacob four days away from his pack and he suddenly had an intense need to see another wolf. Granted, the red wolves were not shifters, but they were pretty close.

They had gotten to the Birds of Prey exhibit, when Jacob saw a massive sign reading, "NEW EXHIBIT: Red Wolves" and then in smaller printing, "this way" and he was sort of freaking out inside his head.

He was probably a tad more excited than really necessary.

Edward was about to stay longer at the Birds exhibit, just to watch him flip out, but then decided that it was probably a bad idea, just in case Jacob, like, spontaneously combusted or something.

Jacob was a solid ten feet ahead of them as they walked towards the wolves, practically bouncing. He was standing in front of them when Edward and Shaelyn caught up to him. He scooped Shaelyn out of Edward's arms and held her close to their cage.

"You see those? Your Daddy J can turn into one," Jacob spoke in a hushed voice into Shaelyn's ear. "Well, not exactly _those_, but something similar. You don't know that yet, but—but you will. You might be afraid the first time you see it happen. I'm nothing to be afraid of. At least, you shouldn't be. Other people..." Jacob trailed off, then smiled crookedly.

"Other people should be. But none of us would hurt you. Not me, or your Uncle Sam, or anyone else in the pack. Most of them don't even know you exist, but you're still just a baby. We may be shifters, but we're not monsters. Not like your Daddy."

Jacob added the last part loud enough for Edward to hear, even though Edward could hear each thought before Jacob said it out loud. He glared for effect, but he was really concentrating more on what Jacob had said before.

Seeing the wolves was more than species-bonding for Jacob. He wanted, _needed_ Shaelyn to understand what he was, before she was too old and would become freaked out when he did tell her.

"We should be heading home now, Jake," Edward told the shifter, rubbing Jacob's lower back comfortingly. Jacob nodded and they left for the parking lot.

On their way out the exit, they saw the guy from lunch, standing just outside the ticket booth, a cigarette in his hand, a disapproving look on his face.

Jacob and Edward both scowled at him as they walked by, and even Shaelyn had lost her usual smile. She didn't know what the man had said, but she knew that it was something to make her Daddy J mad, and therefore she was mad at him, too.

"I hope you get lung cancer," Jacob growled at the man as they walked past him on the way to their car. The guy gaped at them, and Edward couldn't help but laugh at his offended expression.

Edward shifted Shaelyn to his other arm, and took Jacob's hand with the other one, and gave it a reassuring squeeze, sensing the tension in his mate.

Jacob smiled weakly. "You going sappy on me, Cullen?"

"As if you would have me any other way."

Jacob grinned the rest of the way home.

- - -

**A/N: Sappy ending! Yay! I figured you guys deserved some cavity-inducing sweetness after nearly 2000 words of zoo descriptions.  
For the record, I have never been to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, I only chose it because it was close-ish to Forks. After doing research and writing this chapter, I want to go there like you wouldn't believe. EFF CALGARY, TAKE ME TO TACOMA.  
Uhm. But yeah. Sorry if this chapter sucks, but it was hard for me to try and show how Jacob and Edward finally being in a relationship that's not fucked-up, then adding interaction with Shaelyn to the mix, but still making Jacob the snarky little bastard he is. If you hate it, I implore you to do better.**


	2. Chapter Two: Take Your Sweet Time

**Author's Note:** With every chapter I write, I get more and more terrified. I don't want this to end, guys. This saddens me.  
**Word Count:** 1870  
**Warnings: **AU, slash, fluff, boy kissing and brief allusions to sex, mild language.

**Can't  
Volume 3: Can't Let You Go  
****Chapter Two: Take Your Sweet Time  
**_I will never stand in your way, wherever your heart may lead you, I will love you the same._

Shaelyn was exhausted when they returned from Tacoma, occasionally nodding off during the drive home.

Alice was outside to meet them even before they had parked the car in the garage.

"Hey," she greeted quietly, noticing Shaelyn's shut eyes. "How was the zoo?"

"Awesome, except for this one prick," Jacob replied. "But whatever."

Alice frowned, but shook it off. She knew better than to ask Jacob about things when he was still mad about them.

"I'll go put her down for a nap," Edward said, easing Shaelyn out of Jacob's arms and into his own. Alice and Jacob followed him into the house, but Alice stopped Jacob before he could get up the stairs to Shaelyn's room.

"Is there anything you need to talk about, Jacob?" she asked timidly, not sure how well he'd react to her trying to play psychiatrist with him.

"Just your typical close-minded douchebag," he shrugged. "Nothing unusual."

Alice nodded, and Jacob patted her on the shoulder and gave her a tight-lipped smile before heading upstairs.

Edward was just gently closing the door to Shaelyn's room when Jacob sidled up next to him. "I thought you were going to get things ready for the party?"

"I don't need to start for at least an hour," Jacob replied, tugging Edward towards their bedroom.

"And what do you propose we do for that hour?" Edward asked, grinning, because, yeah, he had a pretty good idea of what Jacob wanted to do in that hour.

Jacob rolled his eyes, and kicked the bedroom door shut, pushing Edward onto the bed bought for occasions exactly like this ( and for when Jacob had to sleep, because hel_lo_, six foot plus of teenage body does not fit on a couch. )

- - -

Forty minutes later, Jacob managed to drag himself away from Edward and downstairs to set up some decorations.

Alice and Jasper were already downstairs on the couch, blowing up a few of the balloons.

"Oh, hey, thanks for helping," Jacob said, taking a balloon from the package.

"We figured we'd do something useful while you and Edward were upstairs..." Jasper trailed off with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows, and Alice hit him in the knee.

"Play nice, Jasper."

Jacob blushed slightly, because to be honest, he didn't think they'd been _that_ obvious. But then again, there's not much for a vampire who doesn't sleep and his almost-sex-addict of a mate to do in a bedroom.

He decided to stop thinking about it and inflate balloons instead.

- - -

A little over ten minutes later, there was a light rapping at the front door. Before Jacob could even _think_ of standing up to get it, Emmett was racing past him, "I'll get it!"

The door was unlocked, and Emmett could be heard, "Hey, Sam. Seth."

"Hi," that was Seth. Seth had only found out about Jacob and Edward and Shaelyn because Sam couldn't keep his mouth shut after a few drinks. Sam hadn't been allowed to touch alcohol since.

"Hey, Em," now that was Sam, and since when did he call Emmett, 'Em'?

Jacob shrugged it off and went to greet his friends.

"And here's Mr. Mommy!" Sam had a stupid grin on his face, and Jacob rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to castrate you, Sam Uley," he returned dryly.

"Unnecessary violence to the person who bought your baby a sixty dollar zebra thing." Sam gestured to the large gift box in his hands. "So suck it."

Jacob rolled his eyes again and ushered the two of them inside.

Carlisle and Esme came downstairs then, smiling warmly at the two werewolves, and Jacob was still surprised at how easily they had allowed who are supposed to be their enemy into their home.

Jacob led them upstairs into the living room, and they put their presents in the pile in the centre of the room, which caused a charming little encounter between Sam and Emmett.

"My present's the biggest," Sam said, and Emmett turned to look at him.

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Well, it's bigger than yours."

"I gave them a _crib_."

"As an apology present for running off with the blonde one when Jacob was pregnant."

Thankfully, Edward came down with Shaelyn at that moment. Jacob was genuinely worried it would come to blows.

Shaelyn cooed happily when everyone said happy birthday to her, pleased with all the attention she was getting.

Then her eyes landed on the large group of colourfully wrapped boxes, and she was intrigued.

She whined to be let down, and she waddled uncertainly over to the presents, going for the brightest one she saw.

It happened to be Sam's.

"Hah, she likes mine best."

"Shut up, Uley."

"Suck it, Cullen."

Jacob rolled his eyes, and helped Shaelyn open the wrapping paper. When it was just the box, Jacob opened it, and took out the Bounce & Spin Zebra for Shaelyn to see.

Shaelyn giggled, and righted herself, already wanting to try it.

Hell, _Jacob_ wanted to try it, and he was sixteen.

She played with it for a few seconds, delighted with it, when she saw out of the corner of her eye, more bright colours.

Jacob helped her off and opened the presents with her.

Seth's Haba Fantasy Blocks were pretty much her favourite. She played with them for a few minutes longer then the rest, and after all the presents were opened, she played with them again.

All this did was spark another argument between Sam and Emmett.

"I bet she'll be an architect," Emmett said thoughtfully, not really to anyone in particular, but Sam replied.

"Or one of those people who builds like, Habitats for Humanity or whatever."

There was a pause, and then Emmett repeated, "Or an architect."

"You want to take this outside, Cullen?"

Emmett quirked an eyebrow, and after that, no one really knew what happened to them.

Conversation began to flow easier and easier between Seth and the Cullen's, and Jacob and Edward deemed it safe for them to be left alone.

"Should we take Shaelyn outside for some fresh air?" Edward asked. "It's been a long day."

Jacob nodded, and scooped Shaelyn up in his arms, and took her out the back door.

They stepped into the cooling air of the sunset, and onto the back porch. They turned to go down the stairs, but something made them freeze.

Sam. And Emmett. _Together_. And kind of, joined at the mouth.

"_Oh._"

Edward, gaping, covered Shaelyn's eyes with his hand. After a few more seconds, he covered Jacob's, too.

Jacob batted his hand away, and blurted out, "What the --"

"_Shaelyn_."

Emmett and Sam jumped apart and stared at them just as much shock on their face as on Edward's and Jacob's.

"How -- uh -- how long has this been going on?" Jacob asked, and Sam shrugged sheepishly, running his hand through his hair nervously.

"About a month?"

Jacob nodded slowly, and he had to bite back a laugh because, seriously, _how weird was this_?

His brother-in-law and his best friend. And they were supposed to hate each other.

"Emmett, can I have a word with you?" Edward asked, and then added, "Alone?" more towards Jacob then Emmett.

Emmett nodded, and gave a look to Sam.

Both wolves wanted to protest, but the power of Imprinting was stronger then their will power and they begrudgingly went inside.

Neither had any idea what Edward and Emmett talked about, but Jacob was pretty sure Emmett was being given the standard, "He's my husband's best friend. If you hurt him, I will not hesitate to kill you."

- - -

"So..." Jacob said when they were inside. "Emmett's your Imprint?"

Sam nodded weakly, still flushed from the embarrassment of being caught.

"I thought it was Emily?"

Sam shrugged, "I thought it was, too, but -- everything was different with Emmett, when I first saw him. Emily was just -- I loved her, I still do, but in a different way then with Emmett. Like, I would die or something without him."

Jacob nodded and smiled. He pretty much knew exactly how he felt, because he was sure he would Imprint on Bella, too, and they all knew how _that_ worked out.

Emmett and Edward came back in, Emmett and Sam sharing an embarrassed look and Edward rolling his eyes.

When they came back into the living room, both Seth and Shaelyn had fallen asleep, curled up on the floor.

Jacob had to admit, it was pretty adorable.

Sam hummed beside him, and took out his phone, snapping a quick picture of Seth, on his side with Shaelyn curled up beside him, his hair a mess and a trail of drool from his mouth to the ground.

"Y'know, in case he ever decided to fuck this up," Sam explained, gesturing from Edward to Jacob.

Jacob smiled at him, he didn't really think it was necessary, because Seth was pretty much terrified of Edward, but it was a nice gesture, anyway.

Sam prodded at Seth repeatedly until he woke up, careful to take Shaelyn out of the way, just in case he rolled over or something.

He handed Shaelyn off to Jacob, and Emmett slung an arm around Sam's waist, and said quietly, "I'll walk you home."

Sam smiled, and Seth gave them a curious look, hiding a yawn behind his fist.

"When did this --?"

Jacob cut Seth off with a wave of his hand, and shook his head. "I'll tell you later."

Seth nodded, and bade goodbye to the Cullen's and Jacob, heading for the front door, Sam and Emmett following behind him. Sam flushed and subtly flipped him off when Jacob winked at him.

Shaelyn stirred slightly, yawning a tiny bit, and Jacob and Edward went upstairs to tuck her in.

She made a happy noise at being back in her crib, and dozed off again.

They shut the door part way behind them, and Jacob gave Edward a tired smile.

"Go to bed," Edward said, planting a soft kiss on his mouth.

"'kay," Jacob conceded without much of a fight, and as he went down the hall to Edward's room, he stopped and turned a little towards Edward. "Do you think -- like, twenty or thirty years down the line -- that people will still hate people like us?"

Edward opened his mouth to say something, shut it again, and finally responded, "There's no way to tell. I've seen a lot, but -- prejudice has been around for a long time. There's no telling when it will end."

Jacob made a contemplative noise, and then disappeared into the bedroom.

- - -

**A/N :** yaay, sappy end! apparently those are the only ending i can write, haha. so, there's another 13 chapters of this. please don't ask if i'm writing more. because i am. it just takes me a while. oh, and if you want the actual sex scene between jacob and edward, it's posted at my writing livejournal. this is not to gain more traffic, this is to keep my 'T' rating over here. and to keep my story posted, because some people...


	3. Chapter Three: All These Mixed Emotions

**A/N : **oh hey, i'm not dead. no worries. i feel like an ass for not posting for so long, but i have a life outside of fandom. a retardedly dramatic one. fml.

**Word Count: **878 ( wow, swing and a miss. )**  
Warnings: **AU, which is now a given, so no more warning for that. Mild language.

**Can't  
Volume 3: Can't Let You Go  
Chapter Three: All of These Mixed Emotions  
**_I have seen you everyday, you've never been like this before._

When Jacob woke up the morning after Shaelyn's birthday party, it was to Sam pouncing on his back.

"We should go for a run," Sam said nonchalantly, like he wasn't crushing Jacob's internal organs.

"Maybe if you get your ass off of me," Jacob replied, muffled by the pillow and trying to push Sam away.

"Pushy, pushy," Sam tutted, hopping off of Jacob. "I'm serious about that run, though. When was the last time you went out for one?"

Jacob had to stop and think about it. He only phased once during his entire pregnancy, and that was an accident. Since her birth, he was either taking care of Shaelyn or he was at school, and that didn't really lend the time to do much with the pack.

Not to mention he hadn't really talked to the majority of the pack since he imprinted. Only Sam, Seth and Leah a few times.

"Yeah, alright," he sighed, hauling back the covers of the bed.

- - -

"We're going out, now," Sam announced to Emmett and Edward, who were sitting in the living room watching Shaelyn play with some of her new toys.

"Where are you off to?" Edward asked, pulling away a block that Shaelyn seemed quite intent on trying to fit in her mouth.

"Places," Jacob replied, kissing Edward goodbye and kissing Shaelyn on the top of her head.

"_Better_ places," Sam corrected, giving Emmett a quick peck on the lips, then jumping back before any real damage could be done to him.

Emmett snorted, and pushed Sam in the general direction of the door. "I don't know why I put up with you," and Edward certainly didn't have any of Jasper's ability, but even he could pick up on the affection between the two boys.

Jacob and Sam left, the door shutting with a _click_ behind them.

- - -

_'Isn't this better than being cooped up in your house all day?' _Sam asked as the two wolves race through the forest.

_'I don't know, Shaelyn's pretty fucking awesome.'_

Sam was about to come up with some snappy reply, when both boys stopped short at the sight of a chocolate brown wolf sitting in front of them.

_'Quil,'_ Jacob thought, and it's more of a statement of panic than of recognition. _'What are -- how -- you --'_

_'You can quit stuttering, Black. I know what's going on.' _

Jacob was just about to stammer out some excuse for God knows what, he didn't even know what Quil was about to accuse him of.

_'Chill out, Jacob. It's not a big deal.' _

Quil doesn't move, but Jacob can picture the shrug his friend would be giving him had they been in human form.

There was a long pause while what Quil said sank in.

_'Wait -- what?'_

_'Bro, I know about you and Cullen.'_

_'And -- how are you -- how can you be _okay_ with it?' _Jacob was -- floored. It was the only word to possibly describe it. The whole pack had been raised to hate the Cullens. Jacob was an exception because of fate, or destiny, or kismet, or some god really, really hating him. Sam was another exception because he'd always been a bit out of his mind.

_'I fucking heard that, Black. You're an asshole,' _Sam snapped, but Jacob and Quil ignored him.

_'I never said I was really _okay_ with it, I mean -- I don't think I'll ever be,' _Quil explained. _'But the point is that you're my best friend, and I'm pretty much obligated to support you, no matter what stupid shit you do.'_

There was a pause before Quil looked pointedly at Sam. _'And I know about you and the other Cullen, too.'_

Jacob was rendered speechless, but Sam managed to ask, _'But, how did you know?'_

_'When both of you came to school stinking like leech, I knew something was up. Not to mention, hello, shared a house with Naira? Overheard a lot of shit.'_

_'Look, I never want to see you unhappy, Jacob, or you, Sam. And honestly, both of you have been at your happiest lately,'_ Quil continued. _'And that's all that really matters. Beside, who am I to judge imprints? Mine's a fucking toddler.'_

Jacob laughed, and was struck with the overwhelming urge to hug Quil.

_'Now, don't be getting cheesy on me, Black,' _Quil joked. _'But, seriously, if either of those bloodsuckers do anything to hurt either of you, I can't guarantee that their dicks will stay entirely intact.'_

Sam sputtered and protested, _'But Emmett's dick is my favourite part of him!'_

_'Oh, _ew_, Sam.'_

Jacob smiled to himself and suggested, _'Shall we continue our run -- the three of us?'_

Quil nodded, and said, mostly to Sam, _'Last one to the beach is a leech lover,' _and bolted off as fast as he could, Sam racing after him.

As Jacob was starting after them, he couldn't help but feel like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

No, it wasn't his whole pack, it was just one person. But, the fact that _one shifter _was willing to accept Jacob and Edward -- it was enough hope for the rest of them.

- - -

**Author's Note: **I like how I up and leave fandom for what, a month? And come back with a piece of shite chapter that's less than 1000 words. Sorry, guys. The next chapters will be better.


	4. Chapter Four: You'll Be Blessed

**A/N : **remember how i said that the next chapters would be better? yeah, that was a lie. here's another filler chapter.

**Word Count: 882  
Warnings: **Mild language, brief allusions to sex toys, more mpreg

**Can't  
Volume 3: Can't Let You Go  
Chapter Four: You'll Be Blessed  
**_You're a child in my head, you haven't walked yet, your first words have yet to be said, but I swear you'll be blessed._

The next morning, a blessed Saturday, Jacob woke late in the morning, curled around the freezing figure of Edward. At first, he had a minor panic attack, because it was like, eleven, and he had been so caught up in sleep he hadn't even _thought_ of waking to take care of Shaelyn, even though the Cullen's could probably all take care of her, seeing how they didn't need to sleep, and Jacob did, but still, he felt bad just leaving Shaelyn in the care of other people when he could just as easily --

"Stop panicking, Jacob," Edward interrupted from over his head. "Sam and Emmett promised to take care of her all day today, remember?"

No, Jacob didn't remember. If he did, he wouldn't have panicked.

"Oh," Jacob mumbled. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and peered curiously at the book Edward was reading.** "**_Generation Kill_? What's that?"

"A book," Edward replied, not even looking up from the pages.

"Aw, thanks. Y'know, I was going to guess it was a sex toy, but Generation Kill would kind of be a mood-killer of a name, yeah?" Jacob retorted rolling his eyes, and sitting up.

As soon as he did, he felt the oddest pressure in his stomach, and felt nausea beginning to creep up his esophagus.

Edward seemed to notice something was wrong because he finally put down his book.

"Jacob? Is something the matter?" he asked, placing a frigid hand on Jacob's back.

Jacob didn't reply, and instead ran to the bathroom, lest he vomit all over Edward's precious Egyptian sheets ( although, _really_, he didn't even sleep in the bed, did he really need that high a thread count in his blankets? ).

After spending the next ten minutes with his head in a toilet bowl, splashing his face with cold water, and brushing his teeth ( because vomit breath? _Ew._ ), Jacob heard Edward knock softly on the bathroom door. "Is everything alright, Jacob?"

Jacob opened the door and told him, "I think we need to have a talk with Carlisle."

- - -

Jacob sat patiently in Carlisle's study while the doctor carefully cleaned his arm and sanitized the needle to draw Jacob's blood.

"Now, you're just going to feel a slight pinch," Carlisle told him, poking the needle into the boy's vein as gently as he could.

Jacob had his face buried in Edward's shoulder. He hated needles.

Carlisle drew the syringe up, examining the blood he extracted. "All done, Jacob," he informed the shifter.

The blood in the syringe was light pink, confirming Jacob's earlier suspicions. "Congratulations, Jacob. You're pregnant. Again."

- - -

Edward insisted that the whole family ( plus Sam, who was basically family because of Emmett; and Seth, who was also pretty much family because he spent so much time there, anyway; and Quil, because, well -- he already knew, what was the point of keeping more secrets? ) be informed of the news immediately.

Alice squealed with delight and hugged Jacob, and instantly began rattling off potential baby names.

Jasper chuckled and shook both Jacob's and Edward's hands in congratulations and soberly said, "You'll have to forgive Alice. I think never being able to have children has done something to her central nervous system," while Alice prattled on in the background. _"I think if it's a girl, it should be Sasha, or maybe Ann. Or maybe Sasha Ann? Or is that too long? Oh! If it's a boy, he should definitely be named Brendan."_

Esme grinned with pride, and enveloped Jacob in another hug, though it was rather less energetic than Alice's.

Jacob called Seth ( whose only response was, "Where does the baby come out of?" ) and Quil ( whose response was, "My best friend is pregnant with a leech, and he's a _guy. _How is this my _life_?", to which Jacob replied, "_Your life_? I'm the pregnant one!" ).

Emmett and Sam were the last to know, though they knew something was up when they came home and the whole family was sitting in the living room, staring patiently at the front door.

"Hey, Cullen clan, what's up?" Sam said suspiciously, shifting Shaelyn to his other arm, and eying Alice in particular. She looked a tad too happy to be up to something good.

Everyone blurted out at the exact same time, "Jacob's pregnant," with the exception of Jacob and Edward. Edward was busy smiling at his husband, proudly holding his stomach. Jacob was busy revelling in the attention. He got like that when hormones decided to kick in.

"_Again_?" Sam exclaimed. "Hundred bucks says that after this kid, Jacob and Edward can't keep their hands off of each other for three months."

"Can so!" Jacob protested, ignoring Edward's wide-eyed look. Uhm, _what_? They most certainly could _not_ keep their hands off of each other for three months. Or, they could, but Edward wasn't allowing it.

"Not that I'm ever planning on enforcing said bet," Jacob added quickly, patting Edward on the shoulder reassuringly. Edward rolled his eyes, touched Jacob's belly one last time, and crossed the room to retrieve his daughter from Sam.

- - -  
**A/N : **i swear to God, the next chapter actually has plot and substance. AND BILLY! Let the good times roll.


	5. Chapter Five: Crying the Blues

**A/N : **First chapter with actual plot? I believe so. and like, a month overdue. dang i'm bad at this, haha.

**Word Count:  
Warnings: **Mild language, brief allusions to sex toys, more mpreg

**Can't  
Volume 3: Can't Let You Go  
Chapter Five: Crying The Blues  
**_Bring some message in your head, or in something you can't lose, but don't you ever bring me bad news._

Alice cooed as she rubbed Jacob's belly, the shifter awkwardly looking over her.

"How far along are you? Do you know?" she asked, more to Jacob's stomach than to Jacob himself.

"Uhm -- not really," Jacob replied, subtly drawing away from Alice. "A week, maybe. Two weeks at the most."

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

"No, I'm good, thanks," Jacob replied, moving further from her still. "I think I'm actually just going to take a quick nap up in Edward's room."

With that, Jacob bolted up the stairs, closing the bedroom door behind him. He sighed, and flopped down on the bed, thankful for the silence of the house, and being away from Alice.

He was being honest about needing a nap though: the stress of revealing yet another secret to a group of people and gauging their reaction was wearing down on him.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Jacob couldn't help but feel like he was missing something about this particular day.

- - -

Billy Black sighed and hung up the pay phone after reaching nothing but his answering machine at home.

He had been at the bust depot for over an hour, trying to get a hold of Jacob.

_'Where could that boy _be_?' _Billy was getting frustrated. It had been a while since his departure ( over a year, in fact. Visiting other reserves can sometimes get out of hand ) but it's not like Jacob would've _forgotten_ about his father completely.

It was then that Billy started to worry. What if something had happened to his son, his _only _son? He couldn't even imagine what -- no. He had to believe that it wasn't true.

Billy sighed once more and deposited more coins into the phone, this time dialing a different, less familiar number.

The phone rang several times before a groggy-sounding voice finally answered, "Hello?"

"Embry, did you just wake up?"

"Oh, hey, Billy! How was wherever you went?"

"Just fine, Embry. Now, I have a favour to ask of you."

Embry muffled a yawn and replied, "Sure, whatever."

"I need you to come pick me up at the bus depot."

There was a long silence on the other end, then finally, "Shouldn't Jacob be picking you up?"

"Yes. Should is probably the key word in this situation, but I can't seem to get a hold of him."

"Huh, that's weird."

"Yes, Embry, that is very weird. Now could you possibly come get me?"

"Yeah, sure. Be there in ten."

Billy shook his head as he hung placed the receiver back on the hook. Why, oh why, did his son have to associate with such idiots?

- - -

"There you are, Mr. Black," Embry said after wheeling Billy into his house and helping him with his luggage. "If you need anything else, you can call me, or Paul or someone, I don't know. We're all pretty much available."

"Thank you, Embry," Billy replied, waving him away. "And I'll let you know if I find my wayward son."

"'Wayward son?' Cool, like the Kansas song!" Embry enthused.

"Yes, Embry. Like the Kansas song."

Embry smiled and waved cheerfully as he left. "Later, Mr. B!"

Billy waved, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Embry's pure immaturity, and closed the door.

Now, to find Jacob. Billy spent the better part of an hour calling every member of the wolf pack, speaking to both the wolves and their parents, trying to get some idea of where Jacob was.

To Billy's frustration, no one could give him any help. Jacob had been going to school regularly this year, but missed Thursday and Friday, and no one had seen him since.

None of that was doing anything to abate Billy's worry.

Billy grumbled to himself as he went outside to his back porch, staring out at his backyard thoughtfully.

"Hey, Mr. Black!" someone yelled from the yard next to his.

Seth, forever the underdog ( no pun intended ) amongst the rest of the werewolves, was waving enthusiastically at Billy. "How was the trip?"

"As good as a trip up to Alberta in the middle of winter can be," Billy replied, only semi-jokingly. He thought the weather in Washington was bad. "Say, have you seen Jacob around?"

"Jacob? He's never really around here anymore. He's been spending most of his time at the Cull--" Seth cut himself off, suddenly realizing who he was speaking to. He stammered to try and correct himself, but Billy's rage was already beginning to rise within him.

"He's with the _Cullen's_?" Billy roared, not caring if the neighbours on the other side could hear him. "What is he doing with those god damned leeches?!"

Seth wanted to say, "Well, if I told you, you'd probably have a heart attack and I'd feel incredibly guilty subjecting you to that," but then Billy would get even more mad. So he settled for, "Gotta go!" before Phasing and scampering off.

- - -

_'Dear God, I know I don't pray to you much, sorry I've been busy, but please, oh please oh please let me get to the Cullen's before Billy and possibly a variety of other more dangerous people get there.'_

Seth was racing through the forest towards the Cullen's house, desperate to reach Jacob. He realized sort of belatedly that, yeah okay, phoning would've been _way_ faster, but whatever, he was like, halfway there anyway, and it was a little late to turn around now.

Finally, Seth arrived at the Cullen's house. It was then that he realized, he a) could not knock on the door to get their attention and b) he didn't bring a change of clothes with him, so he couldn't even shift back outside.

Seth grimaced and bashed his head several times against the door.

Alice opened the door first, and peered down curiously at the wolf. "Uhm -- I'm not sure which one you are, but --"

Seth ignored her and shoved his way inside, and scampered into the living room where Jacob and Edward were seated on the couch.

"Seth! What are you doing here?" Jacob asked, confusion clearly printed all over his face.

_'Yeah, before I start, I really don't want have to organize my thoughts enough to tell you in this form, so could I maybe borrow a blanket or something?'_

Jacob nodded, and grabbed a decorative throw blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it over to Seth.

Seth used his teeth to pull it partially over his body, enough so that the more embarrassing bits were covered as he shifted back to being a human.

"I dropped the ball," he said, wrapping the blanket around him more thoroughly. "Billy knows."

Seth could feel both boys eyes on him, though he refused to make eye contact. "He's probably assembling a kidnapping brigade right now. I'm sorry, guys," Seth said, shoulders slumped, and trying to blink back tears. He couldn't believe he had done this, that he had screwed things up so _epicly_.

Jacob went over to him and rubbed at the younger boy's shoulder soothingly. "It's alright, Seth," he said, using a similar tone that he used on Shaelyn when she wouldn't go to sleep. "We'll work things out, okay? And everything is going to be alright."

As Seth's crying was reduced to pitiful sniffles, Jacob wondered how much he truly believed his own words.

- - -  
**A/N: **alright, so decent chapter-ish? it's continued in the next one, which i promise i will upload sometime next week. feel free to send me angry hate-mail messages if i fail to do so.


	6. Chapter Six: Like You

**A/N : **clearly i have the best fans ever. even after i told all of you that you could send me blistering e-mails if i failed to post within my deadline, none of you did. which either means you're awesome and patient with semi-ritards like myself, or you just don't care. i'm hoping for the former.

**Word Count:  
Warnings: **mild language, mpreg, Sam/Emmett.

**Can't  
Volume 3: Can't Let You Go  
Chapter Six: Like You  
**_Steal a kid, break a heart, steal the show._

Billy stared at Seth as the boy scampered off into the woods, blindsided by the boy's accidental slip of news.

"_He's been spending most of his time at the Cullen's."_

When Billy got over his initial shock, he began to feel the rage well inside of him once more. His jaw and fists clenched, nearly blinded by the fury at his own son and at him_self_.

_'How could I have let Jacob think that something so blatantly idiotic was the right thing?' _Billy brooded, wheeling himself back into the house, and to his phone. _'Maybe I shouldn't have taken all that time away. Leaving the boy unsupervised was a stupid idea.'_

Billy dialled a phone number he never thought he would call willingly, and waited patiently for the intended receiver to pick up. A bored voice answered the phone.

"Hello, Paul?" Billy said. "I need you to do me a favour. Get some of the pack together," he paused here, hearing some rustling on the other end of the line. "We're going to get my son back."

- - -

Jacob sat on Edward's--_his_, technically--bed beside Seth, who was donned in a pair of Jasper's sweatpants and one of Emmett's t-shirts, both boys watching Edward pace back and forth across his bedroom floor.

Even though Seth could see the confusion on Edward's face, he couldn't hear his thoughts like Jacob could. Edward's mind was a mess, as chaotic and unorganized as Jacob had ever witnessed it being. He was trying to figure out ways to help Jacob, keep him from the danger of a furious Billy and potentially an entire pack of werewolves.

The beginning of every new idea was always squashed by something like, _"too dangerous for Jacob,"_ or, _"would undoubtedly end in death for at least four people,"_ or _"defies most laws of physics."_

All of it was giving Jacob a headache. He grabbed Edward's hand and hauled him onto the bed beside him.

"Take it easy, alright?" Jacob said, giving Edward's hand a light squeeze. "We'll figure something out."

It was the second time in as many hours that Jacob had given someone an empty reassurance.

- - -

"Shaelyn, _no_!" Sam scolded gently, pulling a pencil that had been left within reach out of Shaelyn's mouth. "Pencils are _yucky_."

Shaelyn let go of the pencil, pouting. When he lower lip began to quiver, Sam knew exactly what was coming. He scooped Shaelyn up and carried her over to the kitchen table, where Emmett was doing math homework.

"Take the baby," Sam ordered, handing off Shaelyn to Emmett before scurrying off to the fridge.

"What --" Emmett began, but his inquiry was cut short by Shaelyn's sudden wailing. He scowled at Sam when the shifter returned, carrying a sippy cup of blood.

"Sorry, but she was about to start crying, and it's a lot easier for me to get..._this_," Sam tapped the cup with a look of something akin to disgust, "when I have both hands."

Emmett rolled his eyes and took the cup from Sam's hand. He placed the spout near Shaelyn's mouth, and she seemed to sense the food immediately. She calmed down and took the cup in her mouth, drinking deeply. Emmett sat in her high chair at the head of the table. She didn't seem to take notice, continuing to drink from the cup.

Emmett turned to Sam to say something, quite possibly a lecture on giving fair warnings when handing off screaming toddlers, but he froze. There was something off, something out of place.

Werewolves. There were other werewolves. Not Sam, Emmett was nearly immune to his scent now; not Seth, he spent enough time here that Emmett could pinpoint the boy from a mile away.

No, this was something entirely different. It seemed to be a group of them, approaching the house.

At that moment, Edward, Alice and Jasper all come racing down the stairs into the kitchen, followed shortly by Esme.

"Did you--" Emmett began, and all nodded.

"We need to get Sam and Seth out of here," Alice said. "They're likely to be lynched if they're discovered here."

Jasper began to start up some rambling explanation on their anger, but Sam flailed his arms and distracted all of them.

"What the _hell_ is everyone talking about?" Sam demanded, just barely on this side of a shout.

Shaelyn made a startled noise at the suddenly raised voice, and Esme shushed her and stroked the top of her head gently. "There are werewolves here, less than two miles away," she explained in a hushed voice. "Edward, what do they want?"

Edward opened his mouth, then closed it again. He genuinely had no idea. "I--I don't know. I can't hear anything."

He didn't know if the pack had figured out a way to create a block around their thoughts, or if they had just forced their minds to be blank, but nothing was going through.

"Well, we don't have much time," Alice said, nearly a whine. "They'll be here in less than five minutes, and if we're not prepared to give them what they want, we're all dead."

Emmett turned to argue with her, when he noticed Jacob standing just outside the entryway to the kitchen. "Black? You all right?"

Jacob shook his head. "They're here for me."

- - -

Jacob could feel the blank stares from the Cullens. He wanted so badly to ignore them, because he hated the idea of explaining this, of how deep down his people's prejudices really went.

"Why -- why would they want --?" Emmett stopped himself, seeing the look on Jacob's face. "Sorry, I won't -- what can we do?"

"Nothing," Jacob replied, laughing bitterly. "Because my friends and family are ballistic."

"Jacob, they're -- they're not," Edward replied softly, reaching for his mate's hand, squeezing it lightly. "A little backwards, yes," he conceded, forcing a small smile from Jacob. "But not ballistic."

There was a harsh ramming at the door that interrupted the silence, and before anyone had a chance to think, Sam had grabbed Shaelyn and ran into the nearest bathroom, shutting the door behind him. A bit too late, he thought of Seth. _'Edward, Jacob, whoever hears me first, please, please, please make sure Seth is safe. He's my little buddy and I don't know what I'd do if he got killed,' _he thought frantically.

A few seconds later, he heard rapping at the bathroom door. "It's Emmett, let me in."

Sam opened the door, and Emmett stepped in, shutting the door again. Emmett blinked a few times as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the bathroom.

"What are you doing in here?" Sam asked as quietly as he could, hoping that his voice still conveyed his displeasure with Emmett being locked in the room with him. Well, not the, "_Emmett being locked in the room with him," _part, so much as the "_Emmett being locked in the room with him while angry werewolves prowled around outside," _part.

"They're trying to negotiate with Alice and Jasper right now," Emmett replied. "Well, Alice and Jasper are just trying to distract them so Seth can get the hell out of dodge," Emmett corrected himself. "I hated the idea of you and Shaelyn sitting in here by yourself."

"What if they come in here and see us together, and --"

Emmett cut off Sam's rambling by turning the lock on the door shut. "Better?"

Sam frowned at him, but yes, his panic had settled. They heard voices just outside the door and the room fell silent.

"_What the hell were you thinking, Jacob?"_

"_You're lucky we don't just kill you and all of your bloodsucking freak friends."_

"_Quiet down, Paul. No one is going to lay a hand on my son, you got that?"_

"_Fine, so no werewolf murder tonight. But that still leaves us with the le--"_

Paul stopped short, and Emmett could hear him take a deep inhale, followed by a few shorter ones.

He could smell werewolf somewhere, and both Sam and Emmett knew it. Emmett could feel Sam staring wide-eyed at him, even though he couldn't bear to turn to look at him.

Instead, Emmett wrapped his arms around Sam and Shaelyn, holding them as tight as he could, hoping that his stronger scent could overpower Sam's.

Emmett never did find out if it worked, as Jacob spoke up at the same moment.

"_If I go home without a fight, do you swear to leave the Cullen's alone?"_

There was soft murmuring between Paul, Billy, Embry and a few of the others that Emmett couldn't name without a face.

"_All right, Jacob. We won't hurt them, but you have to come home immediately, and quietly. We won't speak of this to anyone, understood?"_

"_Yes, sir." _Jacob's voice sounded dejected, defeated, and it broke Sam's heart to hear his best friend like that.

They heard the front door click shut, and the remaining Cullen's whispering softly to each other. Emmett didn't bother trying to hear them, just hugged Sam and Shaelyn closer for a little bit longer.

- - -  
**a/n: **so i discovered that the problem with writing chapters months apart, is that i often forget the direction i'm going in, even with a detailed outline. you can kind of tell that i got lost about halfway through this chapter, and i really tried to rewrite it. but it still ended up like poo.


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